Attorney General Andy Beshear

Morehead State University is doing an about-face regarding its policy to take away sick leave credit for those retiring after June 30th.

For the last several years, MSU has been averaging-in up to six months of an employee’s unused sick days to the top three years of that person’s salary when the state computes their annual retirement payment. However, due to budget concerns, school officials earlier this year decided to stop that practice at the end of June.

Gov. Matt Bevin has filed a motion in Franklin Circuit Court to disqualify Attorney General Andy Beshear and his office from the political lawsuit filed last week against Kentucky’s recently enacted pension reform law (Senate Bill 151).

The filing lays out significant evidence that Beshear provided legal advice to the Commonwealth (his client) regarding SB 151, thereby violating the Rules of Professional Conduct that govern all attorneys.

Attorney General Andy Beshear has joined with AARP Kentucky and partners to launch “Mission Veterans Protected” to help reverse the high rate of veterans, active-duty service members, reservists and military families from being targeted and falling victim to scams.

“Mission Veterans Protected,” part of Beshear’s Scam Alerts initiative, provides preventative resources to help Kentucky’s veteran community combat the findings in a recent AARP study that determined more veterans are targeted by con artists and fall victim to fraud when compared to nonveterans.

Attorney General Andy Beshear and the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board today announced three statewide trainings focused on investigating and prosecuting child exploitation cases.

The two-day upcoming trainings, one in Gilbertsville, Louisville and Prestonsburg, are for law enforcement and prosecutors on “going beyond a child’s word and seeking evidence to corroborate a child’s statement.”

Attorney General Andy Beshear announced today his office secured $152,000 for the state’s General Fund from a settlement with a Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company for improperly promoting its drugs to Kentuckians.

The multi-million dollar nationwide multistate settlement resolves allegations Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. engaged in off-label marketing and made deceptive and misleading representations in its promotion of four of its prescription drugs used to prevent stroke, COPD and hypertension.

Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse announced the indictments of three individuals for defrauding the state Medicaid program.

In Fayette Circuit Court on Wednesday Dec. 13, three women were charged in two separate indictments on 44 felony counts following alleged theft from the Kentucky Medical Assistance Program, and an individual who was receiving Social Security benefits.

Kentuckians looking to make extra money in time for the Christmas season need to watch out for seasonal employment scams, according to Attorney General Andy Beshear.

Beshear said his office issued a scam alert this week after receiving multiple reports from Kentuckians who said they responded to a seasonal mystery shopper job advertisement that turned out to be a scam. A resident in Scott County reported losing $2,000 to the scam this week.

In 2016, more than 190 Kentuckians died from a drug overdose caused by a powerful prescription opioid three times stronger than morphine.

Many of those victims were service members or veterans.

The drug is Opana ER (oxymorphone hydrochloride extended release), manufactured by Endo Pharmaceuticals and Endo Health Solutions, against who, Attorney General Andy Beshear today filed suit for violating state law and directly contributing to these as well as other opioid related deaths and overdoses in Kentucky.

A scam alert has been issued by Attorney General Andy Beshear to warn Kentuckians about fraudulent advertisements placed in the classified section of local Kentucky newspapers and online.

Beshear said Kentuckains in several counties including Bath, Barren, Franklin and Jefferson have reported replying to classified ads for a deeply discounted John Deere tractor, Toyota or Chevrolet pickup truck that turned out to be a scam.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Special Prosecutions Unit today announced that a 58-year-old Ashland man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on kidnapping and on being a persistent felon charges.

Wallace Daniel Spence, of Ashland, was sentenced Aug. 31, 2017, by a Boyd Circuit Judge. Spence was indicted June 6, 2016, by a Boyd County grand jury for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl.

Spence was sentenced to 11 years in prison in August 2017 for the rape of the girl in Lawrence County, Ohio.

The Kentucky Motor Vehicle Commission today adopted a sweeping Consent Decree agreement to resolve claims made by customers of the Nicholasville-based car dealer Auto Plaza USA. The Commission began its investigation into the claims made against Auto Plaza USA in early May and determined that the dealership had made inaccurate payments of the Motor Vehicle Usage Tax that is assessed when a vehicle is sold or transferred.

In an effort to seek restitution for customers, Attorney General Andy Beshear filed a lawsuit today (August 2) in Fayette Circuit Court against The United Group Inc., also known as Auto Plaza USA, in Nicholasville for deceptive business practices.

According to the lawsuit, the defendant, with the dealership located at 2000 Vince Rd., in Nicholasville, violated Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act by defrauding more than 1,400 customers.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has issued a Scam Alert to warn of a scam targeting Kentucky families and seniors who are seeking to save money on their prescription drugs.

Staff at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Office of Inspector General, contacted Beshear’s office after intercepting a phone caller attempting to lure in an unsuspecting victim by offering well-known prescription drugs for pennies on the dollar.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has issued a Scam Alert to warn Kentuckians of an email scam that relies on spoof government employee email addresses to defraud Kentuckians.

Five recent reports to Beshear’s office indicate the spoof email appears to come from a current Kentucky state government employee and solicits money in order to receive a sweepstakes prize the consumer has supposedly won.

Beshear said the content of the message might also include an official request for personal or financial information or seek payment for an outstanding debt.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse has announced a six-count indictment of a former Eastern Kentucky Suboxone clinic doctor.

Dr. Curtis Edens, 57, of Hardeeville, South Carolina, was indicted by a Lawrence County grand jury May 12 on two counts of Medicaid fraud; one count of improperly prescribing a controlled substance; one count of theft by deception over $500 – all Class D felonies; and four counts of theft by deception over $10,000, Class C felonies.

A group of state attorneys general is imploring members of Congress and the President to adequately fund drug treatment in any plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Attorney General Andy Beshear said.

The initial ACA replacement plan would have cut federal funding for drug treatment by an estimated $5.5 billion, Beshear said.

Attorney General Andy Beshear announced today that his Office of Rate Intervention has entered into a settlement with LG&E and KU that will save Kentucky ratepayers $90 million annually – $33.2 million of that for residential customers.

Late last year, the utility companies proposed to the Public Service Commission a nearly $210 million increase in annual revenues. After studying the rate proposal, Beshear proposed the PSC dramatically reduce the rate request.

Attorney General Andy Beshear announced a guilty plea of an Oklahoma man charged with the kidnapping and murder of Francis Brady, of Bardstown, in 1991.

Under terms of a plea agreement with Beshear’s Office of Special Prosecutions, Michael Dale St. Clair, 60, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced by Special Judge John David Seay in Hardin Circuit Court on April 12 to 30 years in prison.

St. Clair has been convicted several times since 1998 for both the murder and kidnapping of Brady. Both cases have been reversed on appeal several times.

Attorney General Andy Beshear, the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board and the University of Louisville today announced an upcoming special screening of “I Am Jane Doe,” a worldwide documentary on child sex trafficking.

The 2017 film chronicles the battle of several American mothers on behalf of their middle-school daughters, who are victims of sex trafficking, against printed and online adult classifieds.

Monday Attorney General Beshear said a possible ring of door-to-door scammers have recently targeted the Louisville area, with one household losing more than $70,000 over the past year.

The current scam involves someone coming door-to-door claiming to offer services related to home improvement, or simply requesting financial aid for their “business.” Once the victim makes a payment, the con artist makes off with the money.

Attorney General Andy Beshear and the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board announced the availability of grant funding for child sexual abuse prevention programs across the state.

The board, which is administered by the Office of the Attorney General, is responsible for allocating funding from the Child Victims’ Trust Fund. It is statutorily created under Kentucky law as a 170(c)(1) nonprofit organization.

Attorney General Andy Beshear announced that his Office of Rate Intervention is recommending that the Public Service Commission (PSC) hold LG&E and KU to approximately one-third of the increase requested in recently filed rate cases.

The utility companies are asking the PSC for a $210 million increase in annual revenues.

Beshear’s rate proposal incorporates the testimony of five experts, including an engineer, and asks the PSC to reduce the rate request by $142 million.

Attorney General Andy Beshear yesterday announced a multimillion dollar settlement with a national mortgage recording company that will provide Kentucky homeowners with some of the best protections in the country.

Attorney General Andy Beshear joined with other state attorneys general to send a letter to federal officials expressing continued support of recent federal protections for students in higher education and taxpayers.